A major question Loomis faculty and students tackle every year is which Holidays should be celebrated and how we should go about doing so. When addressing what holidays to include in our calendar, Loomis has to keep in mind that they have a diverse population, and have a responsibility to support all students' backgrounds. This process is multifaceted, but a significant aspect is student versus faculty input, and the general direction of the school.
An important aspect of the conversation is what type of holiday it is. Dean Matzkin, Dean of Student Life and Wellness, brings up a critical point that “the school should think of holidays as those that are commercial, versus those that have religious and cultural significance.” By separating the two, students are able to celebrate holidays differently, while still feeling included in the community. Here at Loomis “we prioritize the holiest days of all religions,” Dean Matzkin adds. These are a couple of the holidays Loomis chooses to have no school: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Martin Luther King day. If school is in session during these times with kids living in dorms, the school provides transportation to places of worship. Currently, Loomis is trying to incorporate days off into our schedule for Diwali, Lunar New Year, and Canadian Thanksgiving. Although we might not have school off for a certain holiday, we have many religious celebrations on campus which are run by religious clubs. With our diverse community it is important to value everyone's religion, even when it is difficult to schedule days off from school. An important part of Molly Pond’s job – being the Director of International Student Support – is to plan and support events for our international students to make sure that they have the time and resources to celebrate holidays associated with their individual religions. On the topic of commercial holidays such as Halloween or Valentine’s Day, Loomis holds many old standing traditions for their students. For example, on Valentine’s Day there is senior kids day, and on Halloween many people dress up for school. Loomis navigates the celebration of holidays with grace, and makes sure everyone in our community is supported.
At Loomis, our cultural and religious clubs are student led groups, and they work together to create holiday celebrations for their community; meanwhile, commercial holiday celebrations are managed by the school, with little student input. Many people argue that holiday celebrations should be organized mainly by the Loomis institution rather than by the students; yet, others challenge that students should have more impact and say in organizing all Loomis events. For example, students and families at Loomis were upset because Good Friday, an important holiday in Catholicism, was not observed this past spring at Loomis. If students had more of an opportunity to work with faculty members, the community may have experienced a more favorable outcome. At Loomis, we have student-led clubs for each religion, and those clubs help plan events for cultural holidays. On holidays such as Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah, the JSU will host events to make every student feel celebrated and important in their religion. Dean Matzkin, our Dean of Student Life & Wellness states, “The school works with the Jewish Student Union to make sure there's a place for our boarding students to go for services at a synagogue.” As Dean Matskin said, the Jewish Student Union (JSU) organizes buses to bring students who may not be able to go home for holidays to services. These groups also get buses to shuttle students to other places of worship. While the student-led clubs do a great job with celebrating holidays with the community, there should be a balance of faculty authority involved in this process. Morgan Touhy ‘27 states, “I do think they could do a better job at partnering with clubs and working with DEI and affinity groups to specially collaborate and have months dedicated to certain groups on campus.” On the other hand, students don't have as much input on organizing events for commercial holidays such as Halloween or Valentine's day, as these holidays don't fall under the authority of cultural or religious groups. Though, even while the school plans school wide events to celebrate, students often wish they had a say on these events to make them more fun. A good balance would be to have a mixture of student and faculty input on every event, regardless of whether it is a commercial or religious holiday.
The Loomis community represents students from 33 different states and over 50 counties. Because of this, we have a lot of different cultures and religious backgrounds. We need to make sure we take into account everyone's beliefs and holidays to help honor the traditions people celebrate better, while working with faculty and student-led groups to foster an overall better and more inclusive community.